Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated May 20, 1956: Advice to local bodies

The two-day session of the All-India Local Bodies Conference concluded in Moradabad on May 19. Addressing the conference, Dr. K.N. Katju, Defence Minister, suggested that three years' membership of a municipal committee should be made an essential qualification for election to State legislatures. The municipalities and panchayats, he said, provided good training ground for learning the art of self-government. He said supersession of municipalities shocked him as maladministration in the local bodies reflected the inefficiency of the members. He exhorted the members of the municipalities not to act in a manner which tended to cause a slur on local bodies. He asked the delegates to remember that local leadership was only a step in the ladder leading to national councils and management of the affairs of the entire community. Dr. Katju said people were fast drifting from villages to the towns posing stupendous local problems and increasing the responsibilities of the municipalities in respect of housing, water and sanitation. He felt that the Government should allow all municipalities to raise local loans.

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